Tension as Gunmen Blow Up Catholic Church in Taraba State, Photos Emerge

• An explosive blew up at the Catholic Chapel of St. John’s College in Gassol local government area of Taraba state
• The principal of the College, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Vershima Ikyaan, said no life was lost in the incident which happened on Sunday, January 23
• DSP Abdullahi Usman, the spokesman of the police command in Taraba state, confirmed the attack and gave further details

Gassol LGA - An explosive suspected to have been planted by terrorists have blown up at the Catholic Chapel of St. John’s College, Mutum-Biyu, the headquarters of Gassol local government area of Taraba state.

The Punch reported that the principal of the College, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Vershima Ikyaan, said the explosion happened at about 7.20pm on Sunday, January 23.

The principal confirmed that the no life was lost to the explosion.

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He said:

“We thank God no life was lost, but the Church has been destroyed. About 10 minutes after the explosion in the school, we started hearing gunshots in the town.

“The youths and some students were holding a programme in the Chapel which doubled as the school hall and had left the premises shortly before the explosion.

“This is a religious premises and if attacks like these are happening to the Church, where will people run to?"

Ikyaan calls for investigation

Speaking further, Reverend Ikyaan called on the authorities to thoroughly investigate the incident to unravel those behind the attack and bring them to book.

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Taraba state police command, DSP Abdullahi Usman, has also confirmed the attack.

Usman was quoted to have said:

“What happened was that some kidnappers came to kidnap the owner of one filling station in the town, unfortunately for them, they could not achieve their mission.

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“In the process of running to escape begin trapped, they started shooting sporadically to escape.

“It was in the process that they threw an explosive into the church to cause fear to enable them to escape. The explosion blew up and caused some damages to the building."

Attacks on Taraba communities: Governor Ishaku says he is helpless

Meanwhile, with the growing attack in various communities in Taraba state, the state governor, Darius Ishaku, has said that he is helpless.

The attacks suspected to be carried out in these communities by some Cameroonian separatists popularly known as Ambazonia rebels have continued to stall activities around the border communities in the state.

Governor Ishaku expressing his frustration over the attacks on Channels Television's Politics Today monitored by Legit.ng said he could not have been able to stop or prevent the attack by the separatists.

Source: Legit.ng